During the granary meeting, in the baron's study in Tevalinburg's main castle, the Baron still had not gone to sleep despite it being deep into the night.
The chancellor was accompanying the Baron and Pastor Alphons in conversation.
The two of them were neither playing chess nor drinking tea. They were merely staring at a map and making idle conversation.
The map clearly showed the Giovanni River basin, yet many of the areas marked with emphasis were not within the Baron's territory.
The maps drawn in the West were truly impressionistic. A few little triangles represented a mountain, and the number of little triangles indicated the number of peaks.
A river wound and twisted across the map. If its name had not been written on it, one might have thought it was a road, because roads were drawn the same way.
Pastor Alphons pointed at the little red marks in the neighboring territory and said, "The priests' work has been extremely difficult. Over the past four weeks, there have already been nearly a thousand attacks.
"Yet neither the priests nor the army seem to have found any trace of this monster."
The Baron scratched his head as well.
On the eve of preparing to assemble the army and launch an attack on the neighboring territory, the priest had come to discuss an old subject from a month ago.
The incidents involving heretics and evil spirits in the neighboring territory.
He had not expected the matter to remain unresolved for so long. If he had not used it as an argument when cobbling together materials to attack the other side, the Baron would probably have forgotten about it entirely.
The Baron ran his finger back and forth across the map and asked in confusion, "Since it's already clear that such an evil spirit exists in this area, why can't we search the area step by step?"
Pastor Alphons shook his head awkwardly. "We can't. This area is covered in dense forest and heavy fog. Even in broad daylight, it's like a haunted realm where sunlight cannot be seen.
"That monster can move freely here, and the forest is far too large. There are villages surrounding it.
"They could fall within its attack range at any moment, and it really has been constantly harassing these villages."
The Baron grew somewhat irritated. He knew that if the priest had brought this up, it meant there had to be some other implication behind it. That was what annoyed him most.
Pastor Alphons was not in a hurry. After a short while, he continued, "The Church is mainly responsible for matters of faith. We don't care about or take an interest in wars between nobles.
"However, to prevent the war from causing excessive casualties among the people and disrupting their ability to recover and rebuild, the Church can send a specialized medical unit to the battlefield to treat soldiers and civilians caught up in the fighting."
"I'm not interested in what you want me to do. I don't want the Church participating in this war."
The Baron's words were decisive, but Pastor Alphons seemed very confident. "We can send ten medical teams to provide treatment for innocent civilians caught up in the fighting.
"I know that once the battle begins, having too many unrelated people in the army will only cause trouble. You won't need to trouble yourself with these medical personnel or divide your attention to care for them. For each medical team, we'll send one knight-errant accompanied by ten holy spearmen from the Holy Temple as protection."
Once he finished speaking, the Baron understood the implication behind his words.
In truth, the Baron had understood it from the beginning. He simply had not wanted to accept it. But this time, Mous's offer was genuinely generous.
"First, I want to make one thing clear. I may not be able to guarantee that I can accomplish what you want."
"You and your army don't need to do anything. The people I send will be there to provide medical treatment for those who suffer innocently on the battlefield. They won't do anything else, and they won't require the Baron to do anything else."
Only then did the two of them reach a verbal agreement that was acceptable on the surface.
Pastor Alphons was clearly preparing to rise and take his leave.
Before leaving, he touched the little red knitted cap on his head and suddenly asked, "There's a rumor going around that Ergons Tevalin and Sir Davis Tevalin are the same person, and that he merely uses some kind of magical mask capable of changing his appearance?"
The Baron naturally could not offer any official verbal confirmation. He only said that it was nothing but nonsense.
The priest smiled. "I think so too. Otherwise, wouldn't that person be able to change into anyone at will? If so, would anyone in the world still be able to find out who he really was?"
"That's true. Who in their right mind would abandon their noble status and disguise themselves as some unrelated person to escape that status? It really is nothing but nonsense."
After saying that, the priest left, and the chancellor went out to see him off.
The Baron had not thought much of it at first, but the longer he mulled it over while sitting in his chair, the more wrong it seemed.
Just how powerful could that magical item really be? Could it truly change into any appearance at will?
If he wanted to assassinate anyone, could he completely distance himself from the crime?
Thinking further, if one day he grew tired of being a knight and wanted to become a baron, could he disguise himself as his own son?
No, that should be impossible.
The Baron knew that his son was physically very frail. Their builds were different, and so were their heights.
Feeling that he had merely frightened himself, the Baron smiled and continued bending over his desk to sign the mobilization orders.
This battle had to be fought, and it had to be won. Even if he could not expand his barony into a viscounty, he should at least obtain another dozen or twenty manors.
By then, he could divide some of the elite court knights under Ergons Tevalin's command into landed knights with actual fiefs.
"I refuse to believe they'd turn down the chance to become knights and continue being loyal to someone like you, a mere knight.
"Give me a break. I don't care whether you're Davis or Ergons. Either way, you'll have to keep providing me with a steady stream of quality recruits."
The Baron was in a good mood, but it seemed there was still something he had not figured out.
Thinking that he was ultimately just getting old, he rubbed his temples and continued signing the mobilization orders.
The next day, after the newly arrived soldiers in the village had eaten a sumptuous breakfast, they were ordered to assemble in the large drying yard in front of the granary.
The soldiers did not think much of it. Since they were meeting for the first time, they naturally had to get acquainted.
But when they arrived and saw the farm tools stacked to one side, as well as the one-piece leather suits that looked brand-new but actually reeked of a foul stench, they all developed a bad feeling.
Ergons Tevalin did not appear. Standing on the steps in front of the granary was a man whose body seemed to reach from earth to sky, entirely encased in gleaming silver armor.
A muffled command emerged from the heavy helmet that concealed his features.
"Since you're here, today's task is to help the peasant women turn the manure."
The soldiers did not dare resist. They immediately felt that breakfast had lost all its appeal as they changed clothes and went with the peasant women who had left the castle to work at the stinking compost pits.
While they were working, a mounted courier wearing a flamingo feather arrived before Ergons. In addition to the mobilization order, he carried a seasonal order representing the Baron.
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